John w



(No Model.)

J. W. POST.. STATION INDICATOR.

No. 370,41o.

Patented Sept. 27, 1887.

J/fl 0 E] vw ewtoz %Humus UNITED STATES PATENT OF ICE;

JOHN w. POST, OF NEW YORK, N. Y,

STATION-INDICATOR.

SPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 370.410, dated September 2'7, 1887.

Application filed January 7, 1887. Serial No. 223,('7. .(No model.)

To all whom 't may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. POST, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inStation-Indicators; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled' in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of devices used upon passenger-cars to indicate the approach of the train to a station, and which are known as station-indicatorsj and are intended to give notice to the occupants of a car of their approach to a station long enough before the train reaches it to enable them to gather their wraps and handbaggage, and be ready to leave the car when the train stops, thus avoiding the trouble eX- perienced by travelers in ascertaining the station at which they wish to leave the train from the indistinct calls of the brakemam Many plans have been devised for the construction of these indicators; but, so far as my knowledge extends, they have failed to come into general use.

The object of this invention is, therefore, to so simplify and improve the Construction and method of Operating these indicators as to make them a desirable part of the equipment of every passenger-car.

This station-indicator consists, essentially,

' of a series of rectangular frames or tablets having the names thereon, in large letters, of the several Stations along the line upon which the car provided with the station-indicator runs. These indicating-tablets are provided with eyes, through which pass rods attached to the car, and so arranged as to allow the tablets to be placed either in a horizontal or vertical position. When in a vertical position, one side of the tablet is exposed to the View of the people in the car, and bears an inscription giving the name of the next station at which the train will stop. It is evident that the passengers will take notice of this, and be ready to leave as soon as the train comes to a stand, thus avoiding the delay that often oecurs from their inability to get ready to leave on so short a notice as is now ordinarily given.' When the tablets are not in use for the purpose of indicating Stations, they are turned up into a horizontal position, and present only an edge View to the eyes of the passengers.

To fully understand the method of operat ing this apparatus, I will now describe its Construction in detail.

In the accompanying drawings, in which the same letters of reference indicate like parts in the different figures, Figure 1 is a perspective View of theindicating apparatus attached to the end of a car above the entrance-door. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of one end of the car, showing the construction and Operating devices of the indicator. Fig. 3 shows one of the tablets separately. Fig. 4 shows a modification of the tablet, in which the eyes for the passage of the supporting-rods are attached to instead 'of being formed in the tablet, as in the preceding figure. Fig. 5 shows the Operating key, by means of which the train-men control the movement of the tablets.

In these figures, A represents the end of a passenger-car, and B a car-door.

In a suitable position above the door is secured to the end of the car, by screws or other proper devices, a bed-plate, C, which carries i the indicating apparatus, consisting of the rods or bars D D, each of which is secured at one end to the bed-plate, as shown, and having a horizontally-projecting portion, a, a ver tical portion, a', and a horizontal part, a", at right angles to the part a. They are again bent at right angles to the part a" to form the part b, after which they are bent again to a right angle, forming the downwardly-extending parts b', which are close together and carry the fulcrum-pin 2', upon which the catch-lever E oscillates.

The tablets F are formed of any suitable material and have eyes 6 e near one edge, as shown in Fig. 3; or these eyes maybe attached to the tablets, as illustrated in Fig. 4. Each' tablet has the name of a station painted or otherwise placed thereon, and is attached to the rods D by means of the eyes e, through which the rods pass, -as shown in Fig. l of the drawings, where a part of the tablets are arranged in a vertical and the remainder in a horizontal position. The edge of each tablet opposite the eyes is preferably chamfered, so that' it may readily enter the notch c on the lower end of the catch-lever, so that when said tab lets are in a horizontal position, the lower one of the pile will be held in that position by the cateh-lever at one side and the part a of the rods D at the other, and of course all the other horizontal tablets in the pile will be supported by this lower one. i

To the upper end of the catch-lever- E is attached acord, d,which passes over asmall pulley, h placed in the end of the car. From this pulley the cord passes downward between the outer and inner portions of the car end through the door-space left between them to a suitable spool or reel, k, journaled in sockets m,secured in said outer and inner portions of the earcovering. Each end of this reel k within the socket m is squared to fit the squared hole or socketin the key G, by means of which key the reel isturned to wind up the cord and thus' draw the upper end of the cateh-lever toward theend of the car, which movement of said lever releases the edge of the lower tablet in the horizontal pile and allows it to drop into a vertical position, exposing the name of the station thereon to the view of the oocupants of the car. A spring, n, secured to the part b' of the rods D, bears against the inner side of the catch-level' and forces it into position to engage with the next lower tablet in the horizontal pile as soon as the key is released or removed from the reel.

It will be seen that the Operating-cord is entirely out of danger of being interfered with by the passengers or other unauthorized individuals, as the only part of it exposed within the car iswholly above the reach of a person standing on the car-floor, and even this partof said cord may, if desired, be carried in a coveredway just beneath the roof. If the door of the car should' not be a sliding one, thus leaving no space between the outer and inner eoverings of the car, the cord may be earried down to the reel in a covered way upon either the outer or inner side of the car, the object in coneealing it being to prevent'any but authorized persons provided with a key from changing the tablets, so that no mistakes in announeing the Stations may occur.

It will be apparent 'that other methods of Operating the tablets might be devised. For instance, the lower end might be provided with a ring or with a tuft, like a bell-poll; but these devices would be open to the objections that they might be operated by any person. I therefore prefer thereel and key hereinbefore described, or their equivalents, for this purpose.

The method of Operating this station-indicator is as follows: Before the car leaves its' 'immediately above it, and so on in regular the first station, a brakeman or other trainhand, by means of the key, turns the reel and releases the lower tablet, which drops in a pendent position upon the lower horizontal part o-f the rods D, in which position it remains until the station it indicates has been passed, when the next tablet is released and falls in front of the one preceding it, hiding it from the View of the passengers, and giving in its place the name of the next station.

It will be seen that these tablets are adapted to be dropped by turning the reel, and that this may be done by an operator either within the car or out upon the platform, so that it is not necessary for a brakeman to leave his position upon the platform in order to notify the passengers of the name of the next station at which the train will stop.

I an aware thatastation-indcator 'provided with a series of tablets having the names of railWay-stations upon one side and an advertisement upon the 'other and arranged upon supporting-bars in such a manner that when turned up above said bars the side of the tablet having the name 'of the station thereon shall be exposed to the view of the passengers in the car, and when said tablets are turned down the opposite side, bearing an advertisement, shall be presented to their View, and that devices arranged to allow these tablets to fall in succession and adapted to be operated by the train-men, have been invented, as shown in United States Patent N o. 1S8,9l5. I do not, therefore, broadl y claim such devices, but limit myclaims to the Construction of the apparatus, as hereinafter stated.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent the following:

1. In a passenger-car station-indieator, the combination of the tablets adaptedto be supported in either a horizontal or vertical position, the catch-lever fulcrumed on the tablet- 4 supportsja spring acting on said lever, the

cord concealed in the ear end, the reel upon which said cord Winds, and the Operating-key, arranged as shown anddescribed to operate said tablets, for the purpose specified.

2. In a passenger-car station-indieator, the Operating-cord attaehed to the catch-lever, by which the tablets are retained in a horizontal position, in conbination with the reel placed in 'the car end and sockets forming journals for said reel secured to the inner and outer sides of the ear, said sockets adapted to receive the key which turns the reel from either the platform or inside of the car, :s

may be desired.

IOO

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' JOHN W. POST. Witnesses:

E. N. WILLIAMs, GEO. O. BARTLETTa 

